As has been said, I’m sure, I think *the way* children are introduced to alcohol is the most important, not necessarily the age at which it happens. If mom or dad is always drunk, well, I think studies show that alcoholism definitely runs in families. On the other hand, if mom and dad drink responsibly, I think that can go a long way in showing children the right way to incorporate alcohol into their lives.

It’s such a hard balance, and as you said, will take a great social change. Not easy, but those cigarette stats give me hope!

Unfortunately a study published here recently (sorry, but I can’t find the link at the moment) found that children who drank any amount of alcohol at home were much more likely to become binge drinkers later on than those who had none.

I agree with Enrico’s comment that it is far more likely to be the concept of ‘la bella figura’ that keeps Italians from drinking than a few sips of wine at the dinner table growing up. There are myriad cultural influences that contribute.

A positive Australian social change that has occurred over the last thirty years is the denigration of drink driving. We have random breath tests, particularly around problem times such as Christmas/New Year’s, and any driver blowing over 0.05 is charged. Drivers in their first three years of having a licence have a zero limit. Punishment includes fines, community service, loss of licence and in some cases, jail terms. Although these laws are strictly enforced by the police, they are upheld by the community. People really think that if you drink and drive, you are a bloody idiot.

I have hope that like our attitude to drink driving, our acceptance of excessive drinking overall will diminish over time. After all, during World War II, Australia had the world’s highest rate of smoking, at 75% of adults, and today I understand we have the lowest. All it takes is a complete change in attitude and an enormous social change. Yeah. Good luck with that.

And benvenuto!

Karina, I’m so glad you went ahead with your comment Another culture heard from, and more mixed results. I think we’re seeing here that, as always, it’s so hard to generalize and say “yes this works” or “no it doesn’t.” So many different factors must be considered…sometimes it amazes me that civilization has continued for so long

This is actually a discussion that I have had on several different occasions with different people. I too was brought up in a home (Portuguese-American, not Italian) where alcohol was ever present. Like many of the commenters, I have many memories of being allowed a sip of wine, or a “watered down” version of whatever mom was drinking with dinner, especially on the big holidays. My cousins and I would delight in the fact that we were partaking of the “adult conversations” with our glasses of “wine” when we were as young as 10 or 11. Even before that, I have memories of eating escargot at a bar with my dad in Portugal, while he drank a beer, and now and again would let me take a sip. As has been said, alcohol was never taboo, therefore, it was never an issue. In highschool, when all my classmates were going out and binge drinking, I wasn’t the least bit interested. And to this day I’ve never gotten so drunk as to “black-out” or get sick from it. I’ve always enjoyed a social drink, but have always been the one to drink less than everyone around me. Does this mean that my parents allowing me to drink at a young age prevented me from binge drinking? I don’t know. My brother was brought up in the same household (although he is 9 years younger than me), and he definitely indulged in the binge drinking culture with his friends as a high schooler. But on the same token, even if he did indulge, he knew my parents wouldn’t be upset with him for drinking too much, therefore, he never felt the need to drive home drunk so he wouldn’t get caught out being drunk. He’d simply call home and say “I’m too drunk to drive, I’m not coming home”.

I think the commenter who said that you’d have to change the whole of the culture was closer to the solution.

It was really interesting reading all the comments/ the full discussion on this.

As for the mail, I got a book in the mail from the US that was mailed on September 10…today, October 9. Best of luck. Yes, luck of the draw seems to be the key phrase as I’ve had other stuff come within a week.

Luigi, thanks so much for the link! What a coincidence, eh?

And Sabine, definitely feel free to post on this–the more discussion the better!!!

Binge drinking will never completely go away (just like any vice you can name)–the question is how to best arm our children when presented with the opportunity to drink as much as they want, and that always starts at home with the behavior of the parents. No, introducing alcohol at an early age wouldn’t, in and of itself, stop binge drinking, but I think as many of you have expressed, having that mystique/taboo removed for you from an early age seemed to have steered you toward responsible drinking as adults–I’m guessing this is because the alcohol was introduced responsibly and not in drinking contests with parents and children

Great, great discussion and I thank you all so much for participating!

And if you have more to say, don’t let me stop you!

What I’ve noticed in our Italian-American family is that it’s not okay to be drunk in public, but that doesn’t mean that people don’t drink heavily behind closed doors. It’s like eating. Nobody can say how much somebody else indulges.

I do think it’s unfair to blame Americans for the noise level in Campo dei Fiori. My son and I stayed there last summer and were kept up all night by italians talking loudly outside our window. It was ciao this and ciao that all night. It was horrendous for the first two nights and then we just got used to it and slept like babies.

We saw many Italians drinking, but no falling down drunks.

P.S. I really like the new haircut. You’re working it, girl!